Joe Piko and Hoffman Estates played near-perfect basketball for the final 5:50 of the third quarter allowing the Hawks to cruise past Maine East 58-43 in a nonconference boys basketball game Saturday in Hoffman Estates.

The Hawks led 19-18 at the half.

Maine East opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run to lead 25-21.

Thats when the Hawks put the clamps on the Demons, forcing 9 turnovers while running off 20 unanswered points.

We needed that, said Piko, who scored 7 of his season-high 22 points during that stretch to go with his 12 rebounds. We came out with some energy. The team just fed me the ball inside.

This is a great win for us. Hopefully we can build off of it

The victory helped Hoffman Estates (4-16) break a five-game losing streak and get back on track after a tough loss Friday to Schaumburg.

Our kids were disappointed after the Schaumburg game, they were mad, Hoffman Estates coach Luke Yanule said. And I thought that they showed that in the third quarter.

The Hawks used their pressure defense to force 29 turnovers from Maine East (5-15) and limit the Blue Demons to 43 percent from the floor (17-of-40), including a 1-10 in the first quarter.

We really picked it up in the second half, said Iziah Robinson, who had 9 points and 4 steals. We were kind of lazy in the first half. But our second half play is what we need every time.

Yanule says that this effort is the kind the Hawks can build on heading into the end of the regular season.

I thought it was our best offensive game of the year, Yanule said. We have four games left before the playoffs. This is a character team and now it is time to start putting things together

Jordan Robinson came off the bench to score 9 points for the Hawks while Justin Brooks led Maine East with 12 points.